Political Standing for July 12, 2013

Saturday, 7:15 a.m., Political Scoop: My guest is Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, who filed paperwork this week to seek re-election. We talk about his tenure so far, challenges ahead for the city and Republican politics in general.

Sunday, 10 a.m., CloseUP: This week is a special edition of CloseUP that takes a look at a mental health crisis in the state in the wake of the attack at Elliot Hospital. First, host Josh McElveen sits down with Doug Dean, President & CEO of Elliot Hospital, and Dr. Greg Baxter, the chief medical officer of Elliot Hospital. In a different segment we hear from Bob MacLeod, CEO of the state hospital, and Shawn LaFrance, of the Foundation for Health Communities, who authored a study on mental health problems facing New Hampshire hospitals.

For Those Keeping TrackA new report from the University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics shows New Hampshire ranks second in the country for fielding Republican and Democratic candidates in 175 consecutive U.S. House races since 1856. This is despite Democrats winning just 18 percent of these contests. (Indiana got the top nod for having 180 consecutive races.) Read the whole thing.

For The RecordThe Sunlight Foundation said New Hampshire has really bad live-streaming of state government sessions and committee hearings. (You don’t say!) In fact, we were listed in the “worst” category.

2016 New Hampshire Primary UpdateLast week, we first reported that former U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Florida, will keynote a Republican fundraiser in Nashua next month. When he was asked about it in Florida he got a little dig in on the Granite State. He told a Palm Beach Post political reporter that, "As a Soldier I will go anywhere for free chow...plus it is my duty to temporarily increase the black population of New Hampshire by one.”

UPKelly Ayotte: First, she organized the first-ever trip by a joint chiefs chair to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Then, we learned she agreed to raise money for the NHGOP in Washington using her leverage. Can anyone recall the last time John E. Sununu or Judd Gregg did that?

David Carney: Rick Perry may have parted ways with his New Hampshire based consultant, but that’s fine for Carney. His client, Texas AG Gregg Abbott, appears to be set to take Perry’s place.

Jeanne Shaheen: She announced that she raised $1.2 million for a quarter a year before the election. If she keeps up the pace, without an opponent, Republicans in Washington will take a pass on this race.

Annie Kuster: Another strong quarter for Kuster.

Naked Undies: Molly Shaheen’s new lingerie company got a lot of free publicity this week.

DOWNCornerstone: Their attempt to make hay out of the fact a former Planned Parenthood staffer now works for HHS backfired over a dumb mistake. Namely, they sent out an attachment that contained red-lined edits from Congressional candidate Bill O’Brien. That’s all well and fine, but it changed the conversation. This is why people send letters in .pdf form, by the way. And, while we are at it, Cornerstone might want to remove Stella Tremblay from its list of endorsed candidates. Just a suggestion.